Rosy memories

The spotlight that once shone on Bobby Watkins has slowly dimmed with the passage of time.

BUDDY THOMAS

The spotlight that once shone on Bobby Watkins has slowly dimmed with the passage of time.

But 56 years ago this month, that spotlight was at its brightest, as the kid from New Bedford basked in what may have been the greatest moment of his storied athletic career.

"It's a day I'll never forget," said Watkins.

Jan. 1, 1955 remains as crystal clear to him now as that day in Pasadena, Calif. more than a half century ago.

The Rose Bowl.

It was a day the speedy running back had dreamt about since snapping the chin strap on his football helmet for the very first time.

"I think, back then, every kid who played football dreamed of someday playing in the Rose Bowl, and I was no different," Watkins said. But Watkins didn't just play in the big game — he excelled in it, scoring a touchdown to help Ohio State to a 20-7 victory over the University of Southern California that gave the Buckeyes a split of the national championship.

Bobby's dream came into focus during his junior year at New Bedford High School when he capped a brilliant season by scoring three touchdowns in a 40-6 victory over Thanksgiving Day rival Durfee. The three touchdowns brought his season total to 19, second best in the Bristol County League and good enough to earn the running back All-State honors.

A solid senior season in 1950 would cap a productive scholastic career and help set the stage for a storybook future.

His success on the gridiron had caught the attention of a handful of small colleges, but Watkins had his mind set on going to Yale. "They were receptive, but they also wanted me to go to prep school for a year," he said.

That wasn't part of Bobby's dream. He wanted to play college football right away. Big-time football. So the kid from New Bedford took pen in hand and made his pitch.

"I decided to write to some of the big colleges and try to sell myself to them," he said. "At the time, there was no bigger or more prestigious conference in the country than The Big 10, so I sent a letter to every school except Ohio State. I didn't send one to them because they were the only team that didn't run the 'T' formation, which is the formation I had always run out of."

Watkins was hoping to get a favorable response from Northwestern, which was his personal favorite. What he got was a similar response from just about all of them. "They thanked me for my interest, but they all said they had enough players and didn't need my services," Watkins recalled.

With a couple of paragraphs, Bobby's dream began to fade. The only Big 10 school that didn't say no was the one that didn't say anything.

"Back then, some schools had scouts that worked part-time in various parts of the country. I guess you'd call them regional scouts," Watkins said. "Unbeknownst to me, there was a guy who worked in New Bedford who did some scouting for Ohio State. He had seen me play at New Bedford and suggested to the coaching staff at Ohio State that they take a look at me."

Ohio State had just named a new head coach. His name was Woody Hayes, and with a little prodding he made arrangements to fly Watkins to Ohio for a face-to-face meeting.

"It was my first time on an airplane, and that was scary enough, but when I met him face to face that was easily just as scary," Watkins said. "I don't think he was all that impressed with me, but when I saw that big stadium and college campus, I knew that was the place I wanted to be."

He didn't know it then, but it wasn't long before Watkins realized his enthusiasm for Ohio State was not matched by the school's enthusiasm for him.

"Back then, the school was very racist and, as a person of color, I wasn't very well accepted," he said. "Woody wasn't a racist, and because it was his first year there, I think he was just as shocked as I was. The year before, the team had just one black player and he had graduated. I was the only black player on the current roster."

According to Watkins, he remained the only black player on the roster for his first three seasons.

Hayes reportedly took criticism from some bigoted alumni, but continued to play Watkins while insisting he would not consider recruits or results based on color.

"I loved the man," Watkins said of his former college coach. "As long as you did your job, he treated everyone equal."

Watkins rewarded Hayes for having faith in him by leading the Buckeyes in scoring and rushing as a junior in 1953 with 875 yards in 153 carries for an average of 5.7 yards. A year later, he again led the Buckeyes in scoring while rushing for 660 yards on 119 attempts for a 5.5-yard average to help his team reach the pinnacle of college football.

"We were 8-0 and went into the final regular-season game against Michigan with a chance to complete a perfect regular season. We had already locked up the conference championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl, but if we beat Michigan and won the Rose Bowl, we'd finish 10-0," he said.

And fulfill his dream.

"I remember being focused on that Michigan game because you always want to beat your main rival, but I couldn't help thinking about playing in the Rose Bowl. That was always my dream and I was this close to seeing it come true," he said.

Ohio State beat Michigan, 21-7. But as the Buckeyes celebrated, Watkins was in tears. A knee injury had forced the running back out of the game, and a postgame evaluation put his Rose Bowl dream in jeopardy. A later evaluation threatened to end his football career.

"A doctor told me the injury was so bad that I'd probably never play again, and that was hard to take," he said. "It was my last regular-season game, but I still had the Rose Bowl and the (NFL) draft to look forward to. Prior to the injury, I was being projected as the possible first selection in the draft, but all of a sudden, everything was put on hold."

Once again, the dream began to fade.

But, like it had before, the storybook journey took a strange and mystical twist.

"We had a trainer back then — I forget his name — who saw what I was going through and told me that, if I was willing to do everything he suggested, he'd have me ready to play again," Watkins said. "He even said there was a chance I'd be ready to play in the Rose Bowl."

While his team practiced for the game in Pasadena, Watkins divided his time between whirlpool and massage treatments and leisurely walks around the football field.

"That went on for a few days when, all of a sudden, my knee felt fine," he said. "I went back to the trainer who checked me out and, the next day I was back at practice. I still don't know what or how it happened, but I was just happy to be back."

No happier than coach Hayes, the man who took a chance and watched his gamble pay off as Watkins scored a touchdown to help secure a 20-7 victory and bring both men their first Rose Bowl title.

Watkins had realized his dream. A few hours later, he basked in the limelight of a national championship, shared with UCLA as the two national press outlets couldn't agree on a winner. Watkins' college career was complete. But the journey had one final route, one that would end with a professional career in Chicago.

On Jan. 28, 1955, the NFL held its annual player draft in New York City. Watkins led the list of New England collegians in the pool but, because of his knee injury, fell to Chicago in the second round — the 23rd overall pick — and played three seasons with the Bears before a knee injury forced him to the sidelines following the 1957 season. In those three seasons, he played in 33 games, scored 11 touchdowns and rushed for 1,041 yards on 235 carries. An attempted comeback with the Chicago Cardinals in 1958 was short-circuited by injury after five games.

Now 78, Watkins lives in retirement with his wife Rillis in Dartmouth. He continues to follow his beloved Ohio State in particular and football in general. One of his interests centers around another local football player he's never met, one that will soon be going through what Watkins experienced more than a half century ago.

When Jordan Todman announced his intention to leave school early and enter the 2011 NFL player draft, Watkins was all for it.

"I've never met the young man, but I'd like to some day. And if I do, I'll tell him he made the right decision because you never know what could happen," Watkins said, remembering his own injuries. "I've only seen him a few times ... once in a high school game against New Bedford and a couple of times on television this season. But I've seen enough to know he's got some big-time talent.

"I don't know how high he'll go in the draft, because you don't know what teams are looking for. But I know I was a possible No. 1 pick before my knee injury and if that young man returned to college and got hurt, he may not even get a chance to be drafted. I'd tell him to follow his dream and go back to school and finish his final year at his convenience.

"We all have dreams and I was lucky enough to realize mine. Hopefully, he'll be able to do the same."

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